Conventional commercial washing or cleaning agents usually contain combinations of a plurality of surfactants in order to meet the requirements placed on the agent with regard to washing and cleaning performance. The surfactants are here conventionally both those which are obtained from renewable raw materials, such as for example ethoxylated fatty alcohols, fatty alcohol sulfates, fatty alcohol ether sulfates or alkyl polyglycosides and those which are obtained from petrochemicals, such as in particular alkylbenzenesulfonates. In the light of increasing levels of environmental consciousness in industry and among consumers, however, it is desirable to formulate a washing or cleaning agent which is as climate-neutral as possible, which can be achieved by using surfactants obtained from renewable raw materials.
Today, washing or cleaning agents are offered for sale to consumers in many and varied presentations. In addition to powders and granules, these presentations for example also include liquids, gels or portion packages (tablets or filled pouches).
Portion packages containing liquid washing or cleaning agents are in particular becoming ever more popular, since on the one hand they fulfill the consumer's desire for simplified dispensing and on the other hand an ever increasing number of consumers prefer liquid washing or cleaning agents.
When formulating liquid washing or cleaning agents for packaging in water-soluble pouches care must in particular be taken to ensure that the ingredients of the washing or cleaning agent do not partially or completely dissolve the water-soluble envelope of the pouch before use thereof and so give rise to unwanted leaks.
One ingredient which can destroy the structural integrity of the water-soluble envelope of a pouch is water. It is for this reason that liquid washing or cleaning agents for packaging in water-soluble pouches have the lowest possible content of water.
WO 2002/057398 A1, for example, discloses a water-soluble container containing a liquid detergent composition comprising: a) an alkylbenzenesulfonic acid neutralized with an alkanolamine, b) an organic solvent and c) less than 3 wt. % of water.
Alkylbenzenesulfonates are preferably used in washing or cleaning agents with a low water content not only because of their good washing and cleaning performance, but also because they can be used in highly concentrated form, i.e. in a form with a low water content. This means that using alkylbenzenesulfonates as anionic surfactant results in the liquid washing or cleaning agents having a low water content. Other anionic surfactants, such as for example fatty alcohol ether sulfates already contain elevated quantities (>25%) of water in the raw material.
There is thus a requirement to provide washing or cleaning agents packaged in water-soluble envelopes, which agents solely contain surfactants which are obtained from renewable raw materials.
It was accordingly an object of the present invention to provide stable washing or cleaning agents packaged in water-soluble envelopes, which agents solely contain surfactants which are obtained from renewable raw materials.
Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the invention and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the invention.